Look Again: It’s Not Snow https://t.co/stZBU6u0l4

Look Again: It’s Not Snow : Image of the Day

earthobservatory.nasa.gov 26 Nov '16, 11pm

Look Again: It’s Not Snow https://t.co/stZBU6u0l4

The white hills sprawling in every direction look like mounds built by snow plows, or massive hills of sugar. In fact, they’re the world’s largest gypsum dune field: the White Sands National Monument, located in southern New Mexico. During the last Ice Age, melting snow and ice from the San Andres Mountains (west of the dunes) and the Sacramento Mountains (to the east) eroded minerals from the hillsides and carried them downhill to the basin below. Lake Otero formed on the spot. As the climate warmed and the water evaporated, the basin remained full of selenite (the crystalline form of gypsum) and created the Alkali Flats. Over time, winds broke the crystals into sand grains, which built up into the dunes visible in this mosaic of photographs taken by an astronaut from the International Space Station on June 20, 2016. Today, that geological process continues. Gypsum-rich m...

Full article: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=89139&s...

Tweets

@UsagiNaia » 27 Nov '16, 1am
Look Again: Its Not Snow [link] [link]
@Abby_Retweet » 27 Nov '16, 12am
RT @OfficialCitral: Look Again: It’s Not Snow [link] via /r/citral [link] #science
@OfficialCitral » 27 Nov '16, 12am
Look Again: It’s Not Snow [link] via /r/citral [link] #science
@OfficialCitral » 26 Nov '16, 11pm
From our #Instagram: Look Again: It’s Not Snow [link] [link] #citral #science [link]
@LeToonsN1 » 26 Nov '16, 11pm
Look Again: It’s Not Snow [link]
@PRLabpak » 26 Nov '16, 11pm
Look Again: It’s Not Snow, via NASA Earth Observatory Image of the Day [link] [link]
@RafaelBorgesV » 26 Nov '16, 11pm
#ImagenDeLaTierra Look Again: It’s Not Snow [link] [link]
@sallyshagger » 26 Nov '16, 11pm
Look Again: It’s Not Snow [link]